


Stay Beside (Me)

by stellacanta



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Noragami Fusion, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-02
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2020-06-02 13:59:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19442854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellacanta/pseuds/stellacanta
Summary: Shinki were beholden to only one master, the god that named them. It wasn’t a sin to look upon another god’s shinki, but it was to desire them as one’s own.Still, Cor couldn’t look away from Regis’ newest shinki, and neither could said shinki look away from him.





	Stay Beside (Me)

As a spirit, Titus was noticeable for the same reasons that he was as when he was a broadsword. Titus was tall and broad, a man with his brown hair cut to military regulation length, and his storm gray eyes seemed as tough as stone at times. At other times, when he was smiling, they were soft and the edges of his eyes crinkled slightly. During those times, Titus’ eyes reminded him of a plain but soft and well-loved sweatshirt. One that he could hold onto during cold nights and dulled the loneliness at the edge of his mind.

Regis, as he was wont to do, noticed how Cor’s gaze seemed to be drawn towards his newest shinki like metal to a magnet. He laughed and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Impressive isn’t he,” the other god asked, laughter teasing at the edges of his voice. “He’s deadly in battle, too, and I consider myself quite lucky to have found him when I did.”

Cor gulped as he thought of the broadsword Regis wielded sometimes. He thought of its heavy hilt with minimal decoration. He thought of the red blade that bled into metal gray at the tip. He thought of how wide it was by the hilt before tapering down to form a vaguely triangular silhouette. He thought about how plain it looked in comparison to Regis’ other weapons, the red metal by the hilt the only thing that stood out. It was much like the man, he mused, eye-catching without purposefully setting out to be so. “Where did you find him anyway?”

Regis gave him a mysterious smile and an indirect answer. “The wars recently have killed many a good man. Not all of them deserve to have their lives cut short, wouldn’t you agree, oh God of War?”

He made a small noise and looked away. Regis using his title suddenly unnerved him, but he had gotten the answer he needed. Cor glanced at Titus when Regis looked away. Killed in battle huh?

…

Titus liked to train early in the mornings, and Cor took to watching him. They greeted each other with silent glances and nods and slowly accepted the other’s presence. Titus never asked why he was there. Cor never bothered to explain why he showed up.

In the beginning, he was content to just watch, but slowly, over time, he joined in. Titus would wait for him in the corner of the temple before dawn so they could run around the block together. Sometimes, Cor would pick up a wooden sword and give Titus a sparring partner instead of watching the shinki go through the drills by himself. (Titus training in the early dawn morning, body glistening with light layer of sweat, was a sight to behold. But sometimes Cor wasn’t content to just watch and longed to feel the strength in those arms himself.)

And slowly, through wordless meetings and runs and accidental brushes, Titus began to meet Cor’s glances. He found the shinki looking back at him with those intense gray eyes that he could never get enough of. He smiled softly, and the spirit smiled back.

“Hey,” he greeted, not knowing what else to say.

“Hello,” Titus replied in a deep voice, sweet in its softness.

They stared at each other until a voice called for Titus and the moment was broken. Cor watched as the spirit excused himself and left.

…

They talked about useless things when they weren’t training. They talked about the birds in the trees and the funny shapes the clouds made when they collapsed out of exhaustion and looked up. They talked about the people that would stop by the temples to leave offerings. They talked about the offerings that were left.

Cor learned that Titus had a soft spot for children.

Titus learned that Cor liked to seek quiet places when he needed to think.

Cor showed Titus his favorite spots.

Titus let Cor watch in on him training Regis’ younger shinkis in the finer arts of combat.

Slowly, the two grew closer to each other, and with that closeness came a fondness for one another.

…

It was not possible for gods to sin. Only shinki, who had once been human (and therefore understood the concept of right and wrong), could sin, and only other shinki could absolve them from it. One of Regis’ older shinkis had taken Titus in hand and explained it to him when the pact was still newly formed. To be chosen by a god as their servant was the highest honor, and it was an honor repaid by living a pious life free from sin. For whatever wrongs wrought by a shinki would reflect back on their god, and in the most unpleasant ways.

He shivered as he thought of that now, curled up against Cor, the two having drifted off to sleep after a long training session. The god looked completely relaxed in sleep, one heavy arm draped over him, trapping him in place. Cor held Titus to him like he was something precious. Something stolen just to be treasured by him.

Titus shivered again and let his eyes fall shut. Cor was nice. He liked being around Cor. He was allowed to be Cor. He was allowed to make friends with Cor, even if Cor was a god. Titus let himself fall into an uneasy sleep telling himself that this was okay and that he was allowed this. That Regis would never fault him for growing close to Cor.

(Later that day, Regis felt a sharp stabbing pain in his back. The pain faded as quickly as it had come and he frowned as he wondered which of his many shinki had been led astray.)

…

Titus seemed more sullen in the days and weeks that passed by. Some days, the shinki was missing from their usual meeting spot.

Meanwhile, rumors began to spread of one of Regis’ shinkis becoming blighted, and that it had reflected back on their master. No one knew which of his many shinkis was responsible and Cor couldn’t help but asking after the other god’s health.

“They’re just overreacting,” Regis told him when he asked one day. “It’s fine Cor, it’s not as bad as the rumors make it out to be. It’s just around my knee, and it hasn’t spread.”

Cor frowned. “Still, if one of your shinki is stinging you-“

Regis gave him a wry smile, “shinki used to be human Cor, and they have an unfaltering sense of right and wrong.” He waved him off and resumed looking over the report he had put down when Cor came in. “Whoever it is is probably being wracked with guilt right now, and hopefully they’ll come to their senses enough to stop it.” That had been the end of the conversation and it was never brought up again.

Cor found his focus turning from Regis to Titus instead. He found himself waiting at their usual spot in the corner of the temple where the maple had turned gold and red with the seasons for longer than usual. Sometimes Titus turned up, and sometimes he didn’t.

It was on one of those days when Titus did turn up that Cor noticed how tired and weary the shinki seemed. The spirit seemed to draw into himself, trying to make himself smaller than he really was. “Are you alright,” he asked, immediately concerned for the spirit.

Titus looked up at him. His gray eyes which had once been sharp and focused seemed dull and unenergetic. “I’m fine, Cor,” the man said, his voice barely above a whisper. “Just tired.”

Cor pulled Titus towards himself and tried to comfort the spirit as best he could. He ignored how Titus fisted his shirt and buried his face into his neck. He spoke of unimportant things as he watched bright orange leaves fall from the trees. Their branches would be bare before the month was done, and with it the snows would come. He tightened his grasp around Titus and felt the sudden burning desire to never let go.

…

It all came to a head the day he found a human child in his temple. One of his two shinki, Monica, his oldest and most trusted, was missing and his other shinki, Dustin, was busy keeping the child amused and fed. Cor blinked. Most humans did not have the spiritual energy to see spirits and gods, but here the child was interacting with Dustin. It was a rare child that was blessed with such an ability.

The child looked up as he approached and smiled. “Hello, I’m Prompto.” Dustin looked between Prompto and Cor, silently asking if he should pull the child aside. Cor simply glanced in his direction to tell the spirit that it was okay and focused his attention back on the human child. “Um, Titus brought me here saying that it’d be okay to stay here and, oh, my parents were kinda mean and he was angry they were mistreating me, and, is it okay if I stay here? Titus said there was a very nice man that could take care of me, and Dustin’s pretty nice even if Monica is kinda scary, and, uh, I promise that I’ll be well behaved and do whatever chores that need doing and get my homework done and eat my vegetables. So, can I stay? Please?”

The words washed over Cor like water over rock and he rubbed his forehead as he tried to make sense of the request. The child wanted to stay here? “I can’t let you stay here,” he said as Prompto’s face promptly fell. “This is a temple, not a childraising service, and there are dangerous things about. It’s not safe for you here.”

“I- I could have taken care of myself,” the child said softly, looking down at his hands. “But, uh, I guess I can leave if you say so.” Cor nodded to Dustin who gently ushered the child out of the seat and towards the exit. “But it’s okay if I stop by, right? Your temple is really nice, and I just need to get away from the house sometimes.”

The child looked so hopeful that Cor couldn’t find it in himself to deny the request. “Fine.” The child’s face shone like the sun and he found himself adding more before Prompto could start cheering, “but only sometimes and not often enough that your parents are calling the cops because you’re missing.”

“Oh fine, if you say so.” The kid half waved at him before deciding against it and giving him a bow instead and he watched as Dustin and the kid disappeared down the path. He grinned wryly to himself and thought back to what the kid had said. Titus had brought him here, huh? He had a feeling he’d need to have a talk with the shinki when he saw him next. He couldn’t fault the spirit for wanting to bring the child to safety, if he was indeed being abused, but Titus simply couldn’t bring human children around to the temple.

When Monica came back later that night, she stared at him blankly when he brought up needing to speak to Titus. “You’re forbidden from seeing him.”

He looked up at her in shock, not expecting that particular response. “Excuse me?”

Monica busied herself with preparing their evening meal. “Titus was found to be blighting his master.” Cor felt a chill go down his spine at those words. Regis’ condition, Titus’ mood, it all made sense now. “The cause seems to be his- feelings towards you, and, as such, you are forbidden from meeting each other.”

He stared at her back wondering if she would say more. He looked away when it was clear she wouldn’t. “I see.”

…

He still stopped by the corner of Regis’ temple every so often. Titus wasn’t there anymore, but he couldn’t help but stand there waiting for some glimpse of the shinki. (He stood there hoping that the shinki would run past on his morning jog, and he could watch as he used to.) Titus never showed up and he was snubbed by the rest of Regis’ shinki whenever he asked after him.

Cor could see in the steely gaze of Monica’s eyes that she didn’t approve of his routine. He couldn’t help himself. He wanted to know how Titus was doing, and if he was okay. (If he was reminded of Cor in the little things just like how they reminded Cor of Titus. If sometimes he placed a hand in the space besides him and wondered what it would be like if another person was there.)

Having Prompto stop by every so often didn’t help things. Prompto was a polite, if energetic, young boy and he had grown fond of him the more he stopped by. (From Prompto he heard about his abuse and neglect at the hands of his parents and, well, he couldn’t fault Titus for his actions.) Prompto would sometimes ask after Titus, and Cor never knew what to say to the child.

The maple trees at the corner of temple had long lost their leaves and he watched as their branches were laden with snow, and then bare again when the snow melted.

When finally buds began to sprout from the branches, Cor stopped stopping by that particular corner, finally having made peace with never seeing Titus again.

…

There was a knocking on his door. It was a polite rap, followed by silence, and then another polite rap when there was no response from inside. “Coming,” he called as he rubbed sleep from his eyes and walked to the door. He could only stare in amazement when a familiar set of gray eyes met his.

“May I come in,” Titus asked in that deep but soft voice of his.

Cor held the door open farther so Titus could slip by. “Of course.” He resisted the urge to grab Titus as the spirit brushed by. “What brings you here?”

Titus looked around the entranceway before staring back at Cor with a wry grin. “Regis saw that I was unhappy in his employ-“ Cor couldn’t help but wince a bit at the description, “unhappy” was an interesting description for living in pain because of deeds done by your shinki. “-and decided to let me go.” Cor stared at Titus for a moment as the words slowly sank in. “He told me to go find someone I could be happy with.”

Cor stepped away from the doorway and grabbed the spirit by his upper arms as everything clicked into place. “You mean?!”

The spirit nodded and grinned. “I don’t suppose you are in want of anther shinki? I find myself needing another god to serve, suddenly.”

Laughter slipped through his lips as he spun them around. “How- then- is the name Drautos okay with you?” He beamed when the spirit nodded, and he breathed the words that would bind them together. (As it should have been.)


End file.
